Hoping to help others decide what works best for them by sharing my views on skincare and haircare products.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Review: Kao Biore Cleansing Strips Nose Pore Pack

I used to use Biore nose strips (the white ones you buy in North America) before but gave up because they cost quite a bit and did practically nothing to my blackheads, and I had a lot back then--both in number and size. I've been using Kose Softymo Nose Clean Pack for the past 2 years whenever I see a lot of black heads, but I've been eyeing whenever I go to my local store. I've hesitated to buy it because it's more expensive than Kose, and I didn't have a good experience with Biore. But this is Japan's Biore branch and it's charcoal (I actually didn't look into it at the time; I just associated black nose strips with charcoal)! So I told myself I won't be satisfied until I try it anyways, so I bought it.

Description (from the packaging and/or roughly translated by me):

"Catches" the blackheads from underneath your pores

After 1-2 days, your pore sizes will return to how they were before they became blackheads

Strip contains slits to give a better fit for your nose

Wet nose thoroughly, apply strip on nose area. Let it dry for about 10 minutes, then slowly peel off. Don't use on wounded or allergic skin

My impression:

I don't believe this is as effective as Kose Softymo Nose Clean Pack. This is a picture of the strip after using it on my nose. I'm not going to put this picture side to side with the picture I took with Kose Softymo Nose Clean Pack because that one was with my bf's nose which was considerably more...erm...in need of cleansing than mine. However, if one day I were to remember to take a picture of using Kose Softymo Nose Clean Pack on my nose, it would still have more black heads on the strip than this picture right now.

I would say it's better than the North American white Biore nose strips. I literally could count the black heads on the strip with my two hands. But it's evidently not better than Kose Softymo Nose Clean Pack.

It also had a very annoying side effect...

It would stick to my nose! First of all, it's an extra step to clean that off. Second of all, clearly it's not going to remove the black heads on my nose if the strip is stuck to my nose! And I've used 2 strips already and both had the same effect. And I made sure the strip was completely dry before I removed it.

Well, looks like Biore deceived me once again to spend more money on a box of nose strips that don't work well and leaves nice little black glue on my nose. Looks like it's the same price on eBay though. I guess I shouldn't have rushed it and and bought it right when I saw it. Curiosity killed the cat my wallet.

Summary:

Better than the North American white Biore nose strips but definitely not as effective as Kose Softymo Nose Clean Pack
Strip does not remove off nose completely! See photo above
$8 for 10 strips on eBay

Grade: 3/5 because it does remove blackheads so it deserves a passing mark, but it's not as effective as Kose Softymo Nose Clean Pack and that residue left on my nose is not cool

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About Me

A UBC medical resident who started getting interested in Asian skincare and haircare during her trip to Japan & Korea back in June 2012. While trying to find out which products were effective and worth buying, I found the reviews online really useful in helping me decide on my purchases. So I decided to start up this blog to share my reviews (to de-stress myself) and hopefully be of use to someone else :)

Fine print

All reviews written here are my honest, non-biased, non-endorsed opinions on a product that I decided to try out. My impressions are only from experiencing its effect on my skin and may be different for different people.